Secret
by Stelra Etnae
Summary: In my eyes, Senbonzakura had always been a lady who reflects Byakuya's inner personality, representing the self that he has lost to the ravages of time. Senbonzakura, despite everything, will always know him the best. Inspired by Zanpakuto Rebellion arc.


**_I was disappointed that Senbonzakura was a guy, so I wrote this. LOL. I wholly took advantage of Senbonzakura's full body armor. Hope you like it!_**

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Zanpakuto... Their abilities and shape are usually a reflection of their wielder's soul. As their relationship grows, and the shinigami learn their katana's name, they are able to utilize an even greater power.

Kuchiki Byakuya glanced up as a light clanking sound heralded the entrance of his manifested zanpakuto spirit. Since the so-called zanpakuto rebellion, the spirits had gained the ability to appear whenever they pleased. He had ordered Zabimaru out of the office only a moment ago and Renji with them. He had thought that he would finally be able to get some peace.

Setting down his brush, he regarded Senbonzakura with a raised eyebrow, and unleashed a question that had been nagging at him from some time. "Senbonzakura, how long do you plan to maintain that ridiculous form?"

"I do not understand your meaning."

"I acknowledge that many zanpakuto have gained different forms to the one formerly shown to their wielder, but as you have always held a human form, I believe that I'm allowed to be skeptical."

Gloved hands reached up to remove the helmet, revealing beautiful magenta eyes which were sparkling with merriment. These eyes were set in a face that was fair and undoubtedly female. "I almost thought that you hadn't noticed, Byakuya."

"With such drastic changes, I would have been blind not to notice."

Senbonzakura's armor glowed bright pink for a moment, the color not unlike the cherry blossom blades, and morphed into an intricately-embroidered silk kimono. The garment was various shades of pink, fading from light to dark, and discreetly showed the feminine curves of a willowy body. The helmet dissolved as well, becoming ornaments threaded through dark hair. Where once stood an armored samurai, now beheld an elegant lady with the regal air of a noble. Her eyes were softly framed with dark lashes with the slightest hint of pink on the ends. Lips the color of cherry blossoms grinned playfully.

"And here I was thinking that the outfit was somewhat dashing."

"You have no taste."

"Where do you think I get it from?" retorted Senbonzakura, seating herself on the armrest of his chair. "After all, I was just trying to keep up your reputation. You sound be more grateful. Think about it. The Ninth Division would have a field day. The infamous Kuchiki-taichou's zanpakuto spirit is female! It'll be all over the papers. What will that do to your masculinity, I wonder?"

Byakuya pointedly ignored her by picking up his brush again.

"You're no fun, Byakuya-bo."

Some may wonder how these two unalike souls ended up together. After all, aren't zanpakuto supposed to be part of the shinigami's soul? Senbonzakura could still remember the days when Byakuya was still a hot-tempered, unruly boy. Yet those days had passed and when each of his loved ones left him someway or another, he started bottling himself up. As Kuchiki Byakuya became colder, Senbonzakura became more extravagant and daring. In truth, Senbonzakura was a manifestation of his true emotions seeking an exit point.

The spirit sighed at the change in her wielder and decided to cheer him up, even if by means of goading. Even a hot-tempered outburst was better than this coolness.

"Ne, Byakuya. Why don't you loosen up a bit once in a while?" She leant closer to him, fingers playing with his kenseiken. As he sighed imperceptibly, she finally figured out its inner trappings and deftly swept it off his head. A white-gloved hand reached up to catch her hand in a exasperated effort to get it back.

At that very moment, the sliding doors leading to the office slid open. "Taichou, I'm very sorry about Zabimaru's behavior just now..." Renji trailed off as his eyes took in the scene before him. His face turned the same color as his hair. "I'm sorry, Taichou! I didn't realize I was interrupting something! I'll leave immediately!"

As the door was shut hurriedly, Senbonzakura started to giggle. The position they were in could easily be mistaken by a third person to be quite...intimate. Byakuya's hair was all loose after she had removed his hair ornament, and she herself was practically sitting in his lap.

Her giggles soon evolved into straight out laughter as she recalled Renji's face. "He looked exactly like a red pineapple! You couldn't have told where his hair started!"

A soft chuckle from Byakuya made her smile. "I once told him as a joke that I use you to cut my hair," he acknowledged. "First he was shocked, and then he was even more shell-shocked at the fact that I had made a joke."

Senbonzakura grinned mischievously. "Your fukutaichou is such an interesting character. Maybe I'll play with him for a while. It's so fun to see their shocked expressions."

"Senbonzakura." The stern tone in his voice made her look at him in surprise, but the merry twinkle in his eyes gave him away. "Shihouin Yoruichi is not a good example to follow."

Outside the office, the Sixth Division officers who had heard the laughter looked at each other as though the world that come to an end. Many dismissed it as a hallucination and hurried away. Surely it was impossible for the stoic Kuchiki-taichou to laugh...right?

In front of others, Kuchiki Byakuya would always keep up his impassive countenance. But with Senbonzakura, he could allow his emotions to show true. For no matter how many others he could fool, the one person he couldn't hide his feelings from was himself.

**They live and die together with their shinigami. They are zanpakuto.**

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_**Well, it's done. It originally started out as humor, but somehow morphed into something deeper by the end... O.O**_

**_The quotes at the beginning and end of the fic are from the start of each anime episode for the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc, for the information of those who haven't watched it. I highly recommend it, it's probably the best out of all the fillers._**

_**Hope you liked the story! Review please~!**_


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